Saw it happen. Twosome in a cart. Coming down a steep grade. Fast. On the cart path. Passenger for some reason jumped out of the cart. I didn't see him jump or hit -- I was on the wrong side of the cart. But I saw him cartwheeling on the cartpath, land in a heap and not move.

I went over to him to see if I could help. He must have plowed a furrow in the cart path with his face. Badly beat up and bleeding pretty good. But the big problem was he could not move his hands or his legs. At least he was conscious and able to say that.

His bud, the driver maybe, called the pro shop to get medical help and an ambulance. I am not a doctor. And it has been 50 years since I got first aid merit badge in the scouts. But I could see that his bleeding, while significant was not arterial or veinous. After putting direct pressure on the main scalp wound with a golf towel, someone else took over for me.

My buds and I looked at each other. There were a lot too many people gathering, the course marshall was there with his walky talky, we could hear a siren coming our way, so we left. (And played through - actually we teed off from the far forward tees so we would have no chance of shanking or whatever into the crowd.)

Lessons from this:

1) Never jump from a moving golf cart.
2) You can go faster in a golf cart down a steep grade, and it might be fun, but it is not a good idea.
3) I should have called 911 instead of relying on a call to the pro shop. Probably a couple minutes lost. In this case, maybe not critical, but it could have been. And the poor guy was in pain. Minutes in pain are like hours.

This incident was at Forest Hills, Cornelius, OR, yesterday (7/10). I hope the guy is doing well. The last I saw, he was actually sitting up against the golf cart. But I am pretty sure the medics put him into an ambulance for a thorough check out.

Hey, if you play Forest Hills and know what I am talking about. let me know how he is doing. His first name starts with a "T". I am not a member and I never played there before. But I understand he is a member.

I will note that while I was holding his head, and blood was still flowing, and he was saying I can't move my legs, he also said, you guys are gonna have to give me strokes on this hole.

Well said, T.

You played through! That's classic. Nice EMT work btw.

Sometimes when I'm playing badly I feel like ending it all too.

Just kidding. I hope the guy is okay.

You did a good deed.

What was he doing jumping out of the cart? Did he think they were going to crash so he jumped out?

Everyone has to have seem the show Cops, or any show like that when the bad guy jumps out of a car at like 30 mph. They get like 5 steps and then tumble like ragdolls.

Honestly what was this guy thinking?

But you really did a good thing today. I hope the guy is alright.

lol, that's funny, I hope he is ok and hopefully he'll learn from this.

I worked at a chemical plant in Georgia and my friend was in a cart that went off a sharp dropoff and he tried to get out...his leg bone on one leg broke and shot through his skin and he needed surgery and ended up in a legal battle with the club.

At Sutter Home in California, they had a tournement and a drunk girl who didn't even play, she was just riding in the cart, tried to step out of a moving cart and ended up breaking her leg. No more tournement, too many legal issues...

DO NOT STEP OUT OF MOVING GOLF CARTS.

Do people know that these accidents don't happen when they walk. Was this guy drinking and driving(one of the few times you can do this legally) on the golf cart.

If he was the passenger perhaps the driver made a quick turn and he wasn't holding on and fell out of the cart?

LOL. I feel the same way I would prefer to just jump off a bridge though, I dont want to just scratch my face up. I want to be out cold

This happened at a county fair near where I live last year. An off duty police officer was thrown from the cart and hit his head on the ground. They took him to the hospital, but he was DOA. Carts, like any vehicle, should be respected for the potential danger they can cause.

i actually saw something like this at my club last week while i was working.

i was coming in from one of our courses after a tournament, following a cart in. Anyways both of them were smashed (there were about twenty liquor stations on our twenty-seven holes) The passenger was kind of half in the cart, and was trying to turn around and see if i was there, i'm not sure exactly, but he was just not really paying attention.

They were coming around a slight curve and the driver decided to take a sharp sudden turn (more of a bump) and he ended up tossing the passenger out of the cart, at full speed. Luckily the guy landed in some taller thick native grass and then he just popped back up laughing. I assume he was just numbed out from all the free liquor, and i did not see anything wrong with him...

they drove back in a little bit more carefully.

just strange because this was the first time i've seen this happen. Most of the members at my course handle the carts with respect and know the boundaries and safety precautions.

A few years ago a dad and his 7 year old were driving a cart down the fairway. the kid was on the passenger side with his right foot up on the drink holder area. Toes a little out to the side. Dad cut a corner a bit close where there were some wooden fenceposts, the kid's toes caught, twisted his leg, and voila, open tibia fracture. Bone sticking out of the skin. Medics showed up pretty quickly and he was off to the O.R.

I think of that everytime I am tempted to put my foot up.

Wow, how terrible.

I've done some pretty dickish stuff on a golf cart... but never to this extent. Good on you for helping.

Never played Forest Hills before... is it terribly hilly?

There was an incident like this recently at the course I work at. We the employees usually stand on the back of the carts and go to the parking lot and put the customers bag in their car, and bring the cart back. It is a long walk from the cart area to the parking lot, so many see this as a nice convience. Well the other day, two guys that were smashed ask the cart boy if he was on the cart secure, he responded with yup, im not going to fall off. So the drunks decide to put the pedal to the metal, and cut the wheels, and sure enough the cart flips over and the drunks fall out.......no serious injuries though......now no one is allowed on the back of the carts.

I played very poorly, and then I was pretty bummed out by the accident, but I have to say it is a very nice 'little' course. Yes it is hilly, but interestingly so. I walked it with no problem and I am 62. The only problem I could see with course design and layout was that it is crammed into a rather tight space (hence my previous 'little'). My playing companions were affected by that more than me, but if you get bugged by people talking while you are trying to putt or drive, well, it is going to happen there. I understand from a secondary source that it was designed by the same architect who did Torrey Pines, maybe back in the 1930's or so. Kind of surprising given the distance from downtown Portland. There must be a neat history to it.

I'll go back again. The course itself is in very good condition. Nice greens. Nice fairways. And it is surrounded by berry farmland - raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, plus cherry trees on the OB lines. Quite pleasant.

I think you did the right thing. Imagine an ambulance showing up and the pro shop not knowing whats going on.

Don't worry about doing things different. It sounds like you did the best that you could under the circumstances, and much better than most would do.

It does remind me of the time that I saw a drunk guy jump in his cart and slam on the pedal at the same time. He failed to notice that the wheel was cranked to the right and he drove the cart straight into a creek. I also saw another inebriated fellow smash his cart into a tree (Luckily it was into a tree, and not into me and my brother who were about 10 feet from the tree). If people want to drink on the course, that is fine. But make sure you can at least drive a cart. I am just glad that the accidents I saw involved a creek and a tree and not another golfer. Sorry, a little off topic, but this post just reminded me of these two incidents.

Why do they serve beer on the course?

Would anyone serve beer at a tollbooth?

Drunk driving is drunk driving whether in a Porsche or a golf cart.

Drink all you want at the clubhouse when you're done then have someone driop you home after.

Its always made me laugh on those cop shows, when the perp opens his door before the car has stopped you know its going to end painfully

LOL! I know they get about 5 good running steps then, POW, face plant.

Anyways. I play w/ my dad in the mens league. If it looks like rain, we ride. He is 62 (looks 52, anyway). Hes sees us kids (27), step out of the cart when its just about to stop. When I am driving an go to slow down by his ball he always trys to get out just as the cart is stopping. I always have to yell at him to wait until the cart stops to get out. I have to remind him that hes not a kid anymore, and is going to roll or break an ankle, or knee ligament. He is kinda "old school", and does want to lectured on cart safety by his kid. LOL! I just dont want to see the old fart get hurt. I should make him read some the replies here in this thread about how dangerous a golf cart can be.

You forget that these carts can be dangerous, this thread is a good reminder.

Actually, they do. I was walking to years ago and was hit by a cart when an elder member hit the gas instead of the brake. Ran over my foot and glanced my shin. Wound up with a deep bone bruise on my left shin for a month, hurt like hell. I was very lucky someone pulled me backwards or i would have wound up under the cart with stuff broken.

I have another friend who broke an ankle in a gopher hole in the rough while walking

Actually, when considering the most common golf related fatalities, many of them can be prevented by actually USING a cart. Two examples:

Lightning - get out of the rain quicker
Heat Stroke - pretty obvious

I flew a guy a few years ago that rolled one down a steep grade. Booze and steep grades don't mix well. He was driving down the hill after he replayed his tee shot so luckily he was the only one in the cart. He ended up having a small bleed in his brain, and did fine. Always remember, golf cart don't offer much roll over protection. I also had one that rolled onto a kid and ruptured his spleen. I wish I had pics of the cart, it was impressive.

BTW... Nice job on the direct pressure, you'd be surprised how many people panic and can't do the simplest of things.

I present you this for your fine work...

Click to view attachment

(Sorry, I couldn't help myself )

That....is just so wrong in so many ways

Golf Carts are dangerous, period and i think a lot of people underestimate the speed they can really go and when you mix in high amouts of alcohol its just a recipe for disaster

The reason why i never let anyone drive my cart anymore...plus i hate hearing my clubs smash together when some @$$ hits a massive bump at full speed...

But I know you laughed...

Its that sick EMS mindset

For the record, I have no idea whether anybody involved had been drinking.

I currently work a course that has some hills too. We have had a few "accidents" because of drinking but more so because people think it is fun to put the cart in neutral and go down the hills.
DO NOT do that.

My only near cart accident was playing in a scramble tournament with my Dad when I was 14. Early morning, wet grass, marshall watching, going downhill towards my drive. My dad says STOP because we were driving by our playing partners balls. I lock up the breaks and we do 720 spin down the fairway. luckily it was wet and the cart stayed upright. I got a pretty good talking to from my Dad and the marshall about cart safety. It stuck with me.

some kid on a school trip at jasper park lodge golf course(in alberta canada for you Americans) ripped out the back end of a cart. he drove down a hill into a rock patch then off a 12foot cliff. he jumped out before it went over so he wasn't hurt but his dad probably got a nice suprise when he read his credit card bill.

Yeahh, thanks for posting. You normally do not think about those things until something does happen. Can someone tell me how fast (like top speed) can a normal cart go?

My guess would be about 16 mph.

lol

The worst golf cart accident I have seen was around '90 or '91. The entrance road to the clubhouse at my home course runs along side of the 18th fairway. Many golfers heading back into the clubhouse from the back 9 routinely take the road instead of driving on the course. The road has DOT road signs that warn of golf carts. There was a cocky 19 year-old (and he's still cocky today) in a '90 Nissan 240 SX sports coupe that rear-ended an 70 year old man in his cart running up the road at approximately 30-35 mph. He pushed the cart off the road, over a 3' high retaining wall, and into the 18th fairway after the initial collision. The car's front end was smashed but it was repaired and the boy driver was fine. The cart's rear wheels were pushed up under the seat and its engine went through the "wall" under the seat and into the foot/leg area. The clubs on the back of the cart were destroyed. The worst happened to the older man. He had multiple broken bones, cuts, and other injuries. I arrived at the course just as the parametics were loading him into the ambulance. I never saw the boy on the course again and it took nearly a year before the older man was well enough to start playing again.

My buddy had his foot outside of the cart while it was moving and his foot hit a tree stump. Some nasty s***. Keep all body parts inside the cart.

+1 to asloper...

two days ago was in cart (mostly in) unconciously left my foot outside the perimeter of the floor, got jammed between low curb and cart. Luckily, not injured (dumb luck), just tore up a new pair of Ecco golf shoes (actuallly one shoe).

Expensive reminder to always keep all parts INSIDE the moving golf cart.

And I know how much worse it should have been.

I realize we all do it, but I saw a guy once crush his ankle between the cart and a wall because he had his ankle hanging out of the cart.

Same thing happened a few months ago at a scramble at Blackhead Mountain course in NY. Four young guys with an empty case of BUDs on third hole, crashed their carts going down a steep incline. One guy thrown out and severely cut up. Cart severely bent and damaged right after we all had signed damage liability for the carts. Injured and responsible for heavy cart damage. Not good!

I was playing the upper course at Peek n Peak in New York. It's a ski resort in the winter and a golf course (Nationwide plays there) in the summer. The 3rd or fourth hole is straight down hill with a huge bunker at the bottom. So, like we all do, I put the car in neutral to take the governor off so we could go fast. Wouldn't have been a problem except for the huge curve around the pot bunker. I tried to slow down but the parking break locked and I sarted swerving left ot right. My passenger got tossed out into grass and I ended up running my own ankle over while the cark drove itself into the bunker. We were shaken up, but able to finish our round and get the cart out. Lucky.

Just a few weeks ago on my honeymoon I saw a cart do a 720°, hit a tree, and flip. Karma was a factor, the group in front of us were 4 holes behind the next group and we were rushing to beat the rain. It started to POUR on the 17th hole and the slow people skipped 18. Rather than stopping at the green like most people, they drove right throught to the sharp left turn down hill cart path and lost control. I'll try to remember to post the pic I took of their overturned cart.

I know a guy who has wrecked two carts - both times because he passed out from heat stroke/exhaustion. Smashed into a water cooler one time and a ball washer the second time.

This has happened to me. Luckily there was grass because the back of my head hit the ground. Funny moment now that I reflect on it.

Cart safety is no joke at Blackhead Mountain. Do they still ski down the fairways in winter like they did when I was a kid?

I have a serious question. Let's say you're a passenger in a cart, that for whatever reason, is about to crash. What do you do?

This is not totally hypothetical. Two years ago, I was riding with my brother-in-law on a hilly, unfamiliar (to both of us) course, in the pouring rain. He's professional truck driver, but still, when we had to descend a steep, wet, hill, I warned him not to touch the brakes. Sure enough, he did, and we spun immediately. As we headed backwards at a high rate of speed, toward the pond at the bottom of the hill, I was preparing to bail out onto the fairway and hopefully roll myself to a relatively-safe stop. I never got to find out if that would've worked, because he miraculously regained control when we crossed the cart path just before the pond.

Was golfing with Jonathan Toews (21 year old captain of the Chicago Blackhawks) the summer before his rookie season with the 'Hawks. The guy took a cart full speed at a 45* angle over a mown drainage ditch in the fairway (it's supposed to be driven through, but slow and straight). Jonny flew like 6 feet out of the cart and we all gasped, until he got up...then we got a good laugh out of it. The guy could have ended his so-far-stellar career before it even started.


Another time, I was playing as a single at my home course before hearing a cart crash in the woods. I knew right where it happened because the path cuts through the woods, then sharply down a hill and cuts left suddenly. I heard them get up and laugh and pick the cart up and cruise off despite me not seeing it, and sure enough, as I walked past the scene of the crime you could see where all the [pause], beer spilled.

I'm not going to say I haven't done stupid things on a cart and preach not to, but man, if you're not careful, you could be playing your last round.

My closest encounter came when i was working as a cart boy. I loaded a guy's bag onto the cart, and he had a bottle of coke in the cupholder. However, it was one of those big bottles that wouldn't quite fit in the cupholder. As I was bringing his cart around the clubhouse, I took a turn at full speed and the bottle fell out onto the floor of the cart. I bent over to pick it up, while still rounding the corner at full speed. With my weight shift while rounding the corner, I couldn't stay in the cart and fell out as the cart proceeded to head towards the clubhouse. Luckily, the cart hit a bush that slowed it down enough to just barely tap the back of the building, undamaged. I looked around to make sure no one saw what had happened, propped the bush back up so it didn't look too damaged, and proceeded like nothing happened. Luckily my boss's window was on the other side of the building and didn't find out that I drove a cart into the clubhouse.

Good reminder .... but the way society is anymore ..... carts are going to have seatbelts and airbags. True accidents are bad enough ... but when you push the envelope at times you must pay the price. We have to take responsibility for our own actions.

In 1981 or 1982 a guy at Q-School Finals (Tom or Terry Anton, I believe) was riding around the clubhouse in a cart with his foot hanging out and his spikes (metal) got caught in a crack and he received a compound fracture of his ankle.

An older guy.-.could do a google search - cant remember if it was last year at a San Diego Course- maybe Torrey Pines, actually just drove off a cliff & died.

My 19 year old... it gets old.. his over drinking and cart driving...dont play much anymore with my son , which is sad.